It may have been something the banks requested, but it looks like the state passed legislation. It still makes no sense. People take off & go missing for years. Why declare them dead? Instead, they should’ve declared his wife & family abandoned. She could’ve declared bankruptcy & gone on with her life.
I certainly agree he should still be held accountable now that he’s re-appeared. But it’s a very odd way to handle the entire situation. And ABSURD to declare an obviously living person has to stay dead. Sheesh!
Because if they’re not dead then nobody can inherit their property. There’s a lot of vital paperwork portion of the wife getting to go on with her life that works a lot better with a death certificate.
Where he “has to” stay dead is in stuff like that inherited property, he can’t get it back now. He’ll still be able to do stuff, but he gets to start from scratch, all his social security went to the wife, all his property, he’s at zero. It’s not an odd way to handle the situation, it’s the only way to handle the situation, do you want to suddenly make his wife pay pack everything that she got because he was thought dead?